Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being Paperback – February 7, 2012

I have read most of Martin Seligman's books, and let me say up front I'm grateful for his work as founder of the positive psychology movement. There is a lot of data that a pessimistic take on events does not make for either physical health or general wellbeing--and these studies are so consistent it is hard to imagine they're all wrong. What if you tend to look a bit too much at the dark side of events? Can you change? The idea is not to become Pollyanna-to-the-point-of-stupidity, of course, but only to cultivate a somewhat sunnier outlook. Well, it turns out you can change, at least to an extent, and Dr. Seligman has pioneered techniques to increase optimism. I've personally found some of the methods he recommends helpful. I particularly like the "three blessings" exercise in which each day one picks out three things that have gone well. This helps shift the mind to a focus on what is good in everyday life. The idea of making a point of using "signature strengths" to cope on a daily basis with life's challenges is also useful. (A quiz to help you identify your strengths is included in this book.) I like the fact that positive psychology is based on empirical studies rather than wishful thinking, and there is data to show its techniques work.This is not a self-help book, however, but more of an account of Dr. Seligman's reconsideration of the ultimate goal of positive psychology. Rather than mere mood enhancement, he sees a different and broader aim--flourishing, which includes having good relationships with others and a generally meaningful life. There is an interesting discussion here of what makes for happiness in the truest sense. Also the book contains a detailed account of Dr. Seligman's pro bono work with the U.S. Army, fostering resilience. (I was moved by his revealing the personal motives--he is the grandson of immigrants lucky to escape the Holocaust--that led him to do this work.) There is abundant material on using positive psychology in corporate or school settings. All to my mind quite fascinating.So, to sum up, there's a lot here about the expanded theory and applying positive psychology in organizations. And it is all interesting and clearly written enough that I read this book eagerly in a couple of sittings. Still, people looking for an introduction to the field of positive psychology and in particular those who want to use its findings to become happier, might prefer Dr, Seligman's earlier book AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS. (FLOURISH does describe many of the same techniques mentioned in AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS but it has a broader focus.)If when I read a psychology book I take away one technique for fostering better relationships--something I didn't know before--I'm thrilled. The information here on how to help people celebrate their wins in life and increase their joy was eye-opening. You say "Of course" when you read this, and then thinking about it, you realize you've learned something new and useful. This is on many levels a great book.

Since the mid-eighties I've been an avid follower of Martin Seligman's leading-edge work at the University of Pennsylvania. He began his distinguished psychology career in the late sixties studying pessimism, learned helplessness, and depression. His two previous books, Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life and Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Lasting Fulfillment are loaded with extensive and solid research from the rapidly expanding fields of cognitive therapy and positive psychology. I cited them to reinforce my two books on self/personal leadership; Growing the Distance: Timeless Principles for Personal, Career, and Family Success and Growing @ the Speed of Change: Your Inspir-actional How-To Guide For Leading Yourself and Others through Constant Change.His latest book lives up to its title. Seligman continues to build and expand on his life work. He starts with a radical rethinking of his own studies and results from the flood of new happiness research of the past decade. In Flourish, he writes, "I actually detest the word happiness, which is so overused that it has become meaningless." Seligman goes on to outline what he sees beyond good feelings and smiley faces, "I now think that the topic of positive psychology is well-being, that the gold standard for measuring well-being is flourishing, and that the goal of positive psychology is to increase flourishing. This theory, which I call well-being theory, is very different from authentic happiness theory..."Seligman centers well-being theory on a "PERMA" framework:Positive Emotion - happiness and life satisfaction are moved from being the end goals to factors of well-being.Engagement - when we're in this state of "flow," time flies by as thoughts and feelings are often absent. We then look back later at just how fun or rewarding the activity was.Relationships - acts of kindness, connecting with others, and sharing laughter, joy, pride, or purpose provide deep and lasting feelings of well-being.Meaning - feeling we're part of something much bigger or serving a greater purpose that ourselves.Accomplishment - goals such as money, fame, winning, or mastery that we pursue for their own sakewhether or not they bring positive emotion, stronger relationships, or meaning.The PERMA elements of our well-being are maximized when they align with our highest strengths. Flourish provides an appendix of twenty-four VIA (Values in Action) Signature Strengths. Seligman and his colleagues developed these as the foundation for positive psychology to counterbalance the decades old mental illness or "sickness model." Minimizing misery is the path of psychiatry that traces back to Freud and is still deeply entrenched in many psycho therapy disciplines and treatments. Go to [...] to take the Signature Strengths questionnaire -- among many other excellent personal assessment and development tools provided there free with registration.Seligman's work is deeply grounded in extensive research and science. This is especially evident in Flourish with 50 pages of fine print footnotes. His evidence-based approach clearly sets Flourish apart from most personal growth books puffed up with fluffy theories and wild claims. However, it will make harder reading for some readers, having to sift through the academic approaches and citations for many of the practical nuggets, application exercises, and personal growth insights buried throughout the book.Flourish covers a lot of ground in the rapidly expanding field of positive psychology. Seligman reports on the development of the new Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) degree program that he leads at the University of Pennsylvania. The program's mission is to "combine cutting-edge scholarship with the application of knowledge to the real world." He also provides chapters on breakthroughs in teaching well-being to young people, a new theory of intelligence (very similar to the work in emotional intelligence), and the biology of optimism.Flourish has two chapters dealing with a huge project Seligman and his colleagues have with the U.S. Army to provide Comprehensive Soldier Fitness and Master Resilience Training to hundreds of thousands. One goal is converting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) into Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG).Seligman concludes Flourish with his "moon shot objective" (inspired by President JF Kennedy's audacious goal declared in 1961 to land on the moon by the end of the decade) of PERMA 51. This chapter proposes a new approach to the politics and economics of well-being with new measures of a country's prosperity based on the PERMA indicators. PERMA 51 is "the long mission for positive psychology. By the year 2051, 51 percent of the people of the world will be flourishing."By applying PERMA to our own lives -- and using these concepts in our parenting, coaching, leading, and developing others -- we can all benefit from "shooting for the moon."